Machine for making veneer-stave barrels.



PATENTED JAN. 30, 1906.

Non 811,031.

G. H. BROWN. MACHINE FOR MAKING VENEER STAVE BARRELS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 31,1904

@Rhkwwo as 110.. 811,031. PATBNTED JAN. so, 1905.

G. H. BROWN. MACHINE FOR MAKINGVENEER STAVB BARRELS.

APPLICATION PIILBD OOT.31,1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET Z1 No. 811,031. PATENTED JAN. 30, 1906. G. H. BROWN.MACHINE FOR MAKING VENEER STAVB BARRELS.

APPLIGATION FILED OCT. 31, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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GEORGE HENRY BROWN, OF NQRFOLK, VIRGINIA. MACHINE FOR MAKINGVENEER-STAVE BARRELS n Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 30, 1906.

Application filed October 31, 1904:, Serial No. 230,811.

To all whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE HENRY BROWN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Norfolk, in the county of Norfolk and State of Virginia,have invented a new and useful Machine for Making Veneer-Stave Barrels,of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a machine for making veneer-stave barrels.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction ofbarrel-forming machines and to provide a simple, inexpensive, andefficient one adapted to enable a barrel, keg, or similar approximatelycylindrical receptacle to be rapidly constructed of veneer staves andcapable of dispensing with the rotary form usually employed in suchmachines and of enabling the barrel or partially-formed barrel to berotated until completed.

With. these and other objects in view the invention consists in theconstruction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafterfully described, illustrated. in the accompanying drawings, and pointedout in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that variouschanges in the form, pro-.

portion, size, and minor details of construction within the scope of theclaims may be resorted to without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a b arrel-formingmachine constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is avertical sectional view of the same, taken transversely of the barrel.Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the lowerportion of the machine. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of abarrel-machine, showing another form of the invention. Fig. 6 is a planview of the same.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

1 designates a frame or stand having supportin g-legs 2 and providedwith intermediate and end cross-bars 3 and 4, arranged parallel to eachother and connected at their ends by longitudinal side bars 5 and 6. Thecross-bars are provided with alined arcuate bearing-recesses 7 and 8,adapted to receive barrel-hoops and constituting a fixed concave form inwhich the partially-completed barrel is rotated until completed, ashereinafter explained. The hearing or hoop receiving recesses of theintermediate crossbars are slightly deeper than the end recesses toproduce the desired bilge of a barrel or other receptacle. These hearingor hoop receiving recesses, which may be of any relative depth, as willbe readily understood, are provided with clenching-surfaces consistingof curved bars or pieces 9 of metal, which are adapted, when the nailsare driven into the barrel or other receptacle, as hereinafterexplained, to clench them on the exterior of the barrel, whereby thestaves and the hoops are securely fastened together.

The barrel or other receptacle is constructed of hoops and veneerstaves, the veneer staves being much thinner and more easily shaped orotherwise handled than ordinary barrelstaves. The curved bars areprovided with depending perforated cars, which are suitably secured tothe cross-bars of the base or stand of the machine.

Rising from the corners of the base or stand are uprights or standards10 and 11, preferably consisting of wooden bars suitably secured to theexterior of the base or stand. The upper ends of the bars 10 are piercedby a horizontal rod 12, which forms a pivot for an upper frame orsupport 13, extending transversely of the machine and consisting of sidebars and suitable connectingbars 14 and 15. The side bars are supportedat their free ends by means of brackets 16, secured to the inner facesof the standards 11 and consisting of horizontal upper portions andinclined portions or braces which are secured at their lower ends to theinner faces of the standards 11. The connecting-bar 15 is located inrear of the center of the machine and is provided with inclined fingers17, constructed of resilient material and adapted to receive the upperportions of the hoops for supporting them in the fixed concavehoopreceiving forms .in the position they occupy 1 r in a finishedbarrel, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, while thebarrel or other receptacle is being constructed. The intermediatefingers are arranged in pairs at opposite sides of the intermediatehoops 1S, and the end fingers cooperate with depend ing stops 19,arranged at the outer edges of the end hoops and consisting of platessecured to and extending downward from the side bars of the hinged frameor support 13. The inclined fingers are slightly curved, as shown, andtheir lower ends 17 are bent upward to present smooth lower faces to thebarrel, and they are adapted to receive between them hoops of differentdiameters, as the said inclined fingers will yield to and be flexed bythe staves. After the barrel has been partially completed and the stavesextend to the top of the same the resilient fingers will be flexed bythe staves and are adapted to permit the barrel to be freely rotated bymeans hereinafter explained. The hinged frame or support is adapted tobe readily swung upward to carry the resilient hoop-supporting fingersbeyond the barrel.

The end cross-bars 4 are also provided with upwardly-extending stops 21,consisting of plates projecting at the bearing-recesses of the said bars4. These stops hold the barrel against longitudinal movement and retainthe hoops in the same vertical planes as the cross-bars 3 and 4.

In constructing a barrel or other receptacle the exterior hoops are madethe proper size and are placed within the machine, theinteriorly-arranged hoops shown in the ac companying drawings not beingapplied until all of the staves have been first nailed to the saidexterior hoops. The staves are then placed in the machine one at a time,and the nails are driven into them from the interior and at the bottomof the machine, the ends of the nails being bent or clenched against theexterior of the barrel by the said clenching-surfaces. After the staveor staves at the bottom of the barrel have been nailed in this manner tothe exterior hoops the partially completed or constructed barrel isrotated a short distance by a slide 22 and another stave or staves areplaced in position, the barrel being partially rotated as it is nailedstave by stave.

The slide consists of a horizontal bar, arranged beneath the cross-barsin guides 23, consisting of metal straps or bars angularly bent at theends, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. The slide isprovided with a plurality of upwardly-projecting pins or rods 24,located at opposite sides of the center of the machine, or at any othersuitable points, and projecting beyond the concave surfaces of thehoop-receiving forms and beyond the hoops and arranged to engage theedge of the staves at the bottom of the barrel. The slide is connectedat its center to a flexible connection consisting, preferably, of a rope25, extending from the slide to opposite sides of the machine anddepending from pulleys 26 and 27 or other suitable guides. One end ofthe flexible connection is attached to a foot-lever 28 to move the slidefor partially rotating the barrel, and the other end of the flexibleconnection is provided with a weight 29, which returns the slide to itsinitial position. The foot-lever 28 is fulcrumed at one end by a bolt 30or other suitable pivot on one of the legs 2 at the lower end thereof.

The other end portion of the lever is arranged in a vertical guide 31,consisting of a metal plate having an angularly-bent lower end securedto the lower end of the adjacent leg 2 and attached at its upper end tothe contiguous side bar. The foot-lever projects be yond the guide 31 inposition to be readily depressed by the foot of the operator, and it isnormally held in an elevated position by the weight. The lever whendepressed carries the pins or rods of the slide into engagement with thebottom stave, and the partially-finished barrel is successively rotateda short distance as it is nailed stave by stave. This operation isrepeated, the unfinished barrel being rotated step by step until all thestaves have been nailed to the exterior hoops. The interiorly-arrangedhoops are then placed within the barrel and are nailed to the same.

In Figs. 5 and 6 is illustrated another form of the invention, in whichthe finger-bar 15 is also provided with a plurality of groovedhoopsupporting rollers 32, arranged to engage the intermediate hoops 18and adapted to assist in retaining the same in position within themachine. They also enable the successive partial rotation of thepartiallycompleted barrel to be efiected with greater case. Thesegrooved rollers are mounted on suitable pivots or spindles 33, arrangedin bearings or arms 34, extending downwardly and rearwardly from thefinger-bar, as clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. Although inFigs. 5 and 6 rollers are shown only at the intermediate hoops, yet theymay be provided for engaging the end hoops, if desired.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A barrelmachine embodying a fixed concave form provided withclenching-surfaces and adapted to receive hoops and staves, and meansfor rotating the same within the form independently thereof.

2. A barrel-machine embodying fixed concave hoop receiving formsprovided with clenching-surfaces, and means for supporting the hoopsthereon in the same relation to each other as they occupy in a finishedbarrel.

3. A barrel-machine embodying fixed concave hoop receiving formsprovided with clenching-surfaces, and means for supporting the hoopsthereon in the same relation to each other as they occupy in a finishedbarrel.

4. A barrel-machine embodying a fixed concave form provided withclenching-surfaces and adapted to receive hoops and staves, said formbeing arranged to permit the hoops and staves to be rotatedindependently of it.

5. A barrel-machine embodying fixed concave hoop-receiving surfaces, anda movable member provided with means projecting beyond the said surfacesand the hoops for engaging a stave to partially rotate an unfinishedbarrel.

IIO

. With the slide.

7. A barrel-machine embodying fixed concave hoop-receiving surfaces, aslide provided with a plurality of pins projecting beyond thehoop-receiving surfaces and the hoops to engage a stave for partiallyrotating an unfinished barrel, and means for operating the slide.

8. A barrel-machine embodying fixed concave hoop-receiving surfaces, amovable member provided with means for directly engaging a stave topartially rotate an unfinished barrel, a lever connected with the saidmember for moving the same in one direction, and automatically-operablemeans for moving the said member in the opposite direction to return thesame to its initial position.

9. A barrel-machine embodying fixed. concave hoop-receiving forms, aslide provided with means for directly engaging a stave for partiallyrotating an unfinished barrel, afootlever for moving the slide in onedirection, and a weight for moving it in the opposite direction.

10. A barrel-machine embodying fixed concave hoop-receiving surfaces,and superimposed hoop-supports arranged to engage the upper portion ofthe hoops for retaining them in the same relation to each other as theyoccupy in a finished barrel.

11. A barrel-machine embodying fixed concave hoop-receiving surfaces,and superimposed hoop-supports arranged to receive the upper portions ofthe hoops for retaining them on the said surfaces in the same positionas they occupy in a finished barrel, the

said hoop-supports being resilient to enable them to be flexed by thestaves.

12. A barrel-machine having fixed hoopreceiving surfaces and providedwith spaced hoop-supporting fingers for holding the hoops in the samerelation to each other as they occupy in a finished barrel.

13. A barrel-machine embodying fixed concave hoop-receiving surfaces,and spaced fin ers located above the said surfaces for hol ding thehoops in the same relation to each other as they occupy in a completedbarrel, said fingers being inclined to receive hoops of differentdiameters.

14. A barrel-machine embodying fixed concave hoop receiving clenchingsurfaces, and a superimposed hinged support provided with means forholding the hoops on the said surfaces in the same relation to eachother as they occupy in a finished barrel.

15. A barrel-machine embodying a stand provided with lower fixed concavehoop-receiving surfaces, ahinged frame located above the said surfacesand provided with means for supporting the hoops on the surfaces in thesame relation to each other as they 00* cupy in a completed barrel, andend stops pro ecting from the stand and from the frame and arranged toengage the ends of an unfinished barrel.

16. A barrel-machine, comprising a stand having fixed concavebarrel-receiving surfaces and provided with standards arranged in pairs,a frame hinged to one pair of the standards, brackets mounted on theother pair of standards and supporting the frame, and means carried bythe frame for supporting the hoops on the surfaces in the same relationto each other as they occupy in a finished barrel.

17. A barrel-machine embodying a frame having fixed concavehoop-receiving surfaces, and a superimposed hoop-engaging rollerarranged to receive the upper portion of the hoop for holding the samein position.

18. A barrel-machine embodying a frame having fixed concave hoopreceiving surfaces, means for supporting the hoops on the surfaces inthe same relation to each other as they occupy in a finished barrel, anda grooved roller arranged to receive the upper portion of a hoop forholding the same against upward movement.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE HENRY BRowN.

Witnesses:

JNo. W. STEEL, DAVID FENDER.

